New report outlines battery storage opportunities for NSW

A new energy report outlining the market and potential for development of solar and wind farms in New South Wales has been released at an industry event in Sydney, highlighting the initiatives of the State Government towards preparing for the future grid.

Titled Opportunities for Utility Scale Battery Storage in NSW, the report was produced by the Australian Energy Storage Alliance (AESA) in partnership with AECOM and supported by the NSW Energy and Resources Knowledge Hub through the NSW Department of Industry.

The report also notes that “many of the recent NSW development approvals for solar or wind farms include the potential for future utility scale battery storage”.

Mary Hendriks, Industry Executive of the AESA, said the report presents an overview of the opportunities for utility-scale, grid-connected battery storage systems, and includes input from many energy industry stakeholders.

It discusses the opportunities in various areas, such as demand management, network support, generation support, ancillary services and market trading, as well as the technical, commercial and regulatory risks that may be involved.

She said the report pointed out that “utility-scale battery storage is widely viewed as being a key enabling technology that is likely to play a critical role in ensuring the provision of a secure and reliable electricity system in a future of high penetration variable renewable energy”, but as yet, there is no utility-scale battery storage connected in NSW.

Abbie McQueen, AECOM’s Principal Consultant – Renewables, Generation and Industrial, said the report will help accelerate and support a sustainable transition for the NSW energy industry.

“The scheduled closure of thermal plants, the rapid uptake of renewable energy, and networks that are seeing localised constraints as demand changes, means we need to ensure security of supply and reliability through enabling demand responsiveness and sufficient renewable generation capacity on the grid.”

Ms Hendriks said, “Utility-scale projects involve partnerships between many organisations, and the AESA produced this report to be a catalyst for enabling that collaboration.”

She added that while the report “currently does not include content on energy-storage options other than utility-scale battery storage, the AESA recognises this is a topic for a future report”.